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Just last week I posed the question: Linked or Facebook? If still having to choose one, I would still probably go with Facebook, however, I still think that the new LinkedIn upgrades are still worth noting…

For this post, I’d like to focus more on the back-end of LinkedIn company pages, rather than just the visual style of the front-end, which has also changed. These are best suited for smaller businesses using LinkedIn as well as more seasoned social media types who still find the platform lagging in certain areas, these new features and sections are a big improvement.

The first big thing is the Notifications; located at the top of your company page next to “Home” and “Analytics”, you can now see a “Notifications” section. Here you will find an overview of your page’s daily, weekly and monthly performance (pictures above. You will also find an overview of all notifications on old posts published to the page. These both include likes, comments, shares and mentions.

The next section to note is the Certified Marketing Partners; these are very, VERY similar to the Facebook Marketing Partners(formerly known as PMD or sPMD). These come in two parts: the first is the company page partners, which focuses on page management such as analytic partners, social listening tools and publishing tools (which is a big help for community managers, as there is still no native scheduling system). The second is the sponsored update partners, which focuses specifically on advertising on the platform, such as tracking performance, publishing and even strategy aid.

Lastly, there have been a few updates to the Analytics section. First, sprinkled throughout the analytics tab found at the top of the page, you may notice a LOT of suggestions throughout. These suggestions pair with the specific type of stat you are looking at, for example, if you are looking at Reach/Impressions, you may see a suggestion to sponsor an update to increase these numbers. They’re a little annoying to people who already understand LinkedIn marketing, but I can see how this would be useful to someone just starting out. The second part of the analytics section to note, is the native analytics themselves; LinkedIn is now showing both impressions AND reach (previously only impressions). They are also beginning to break out different types of engagements (clicks, comments, shares, likes, etc.) rather than just clicks and interactions. This last section is still catching up, but hopefully these will begin showing accurate numbers soon.

Over the past year, a couple of my clients have begun making moves onto LinkedIn. Although they’ve been on board the Facebook train for sometime, they’ve decided to make the shift onto LinkedIn for a few reasons:

1. The Target Demo: The belief that this is where the older, affluent target demo lives online2. The “Respectable” Platform: LinkedIn is associated with success and accomplishments; an opportunity for the brand to also associate with these things3. The “Newness”: LinkedIn is still seen as relatively new and the audience is still growing

These are all perfect reasons why creating a brand presence on LinkedIn makes sense; however, does this mean that more effort should be put into LinkedIn rather than Facebook? In my opinion, no.

LinkedIn being still relatively new lacks a LOT of what Facebook has already spent years perfecting. I believe that Facebook still excels in three main areas: Audience insights (interests and usage), advertising (self-serve ads and better targeting), and finally media type publishing options. The back end of LinkedIn just does not compete – it’s incredibly basic, in the sense that knowing your audience and advertising to them is very limited. And next, on the front end, it is just no where near as aesthetic: photos are very hard to optimize for both desktop and mobile, and there are still no native video option.

Also… what’s sup with their news feed algorithm? It feels busy, and cluttered and just doesn’t makes sense seeing things from weeks ago beside recent updates. Just odd (and I know I’m not the only one who thinks their news feed could use some work).

For another perspective for the comparison, check out [this great infographic] specifically focusing on the advertising on both platforms.

Marketers are always asking “Which social platforms should my brand be on?”

Most assume that they should be everywhere and anywhere just because they can. Each social network is essentially free to join and free to set up a branded account, however there are many points to still consider. My theory is to generally look at two things:

1. What makes sense for my brand2. What can I afford

The first is a given; go where your audience is, and go where the most of them are. But when your audience is in the “millennial” group, this is generally thought to still be everywhere… but not necessarily. Some social networks still skew more male or more female, so this should be considered. Also, what type of message are you sending? For example: are you a quirky, crafty brand – consider Pinterest or Instagram, which are both very visual and captivating. Or are you a very savvy, intellectual brand – consider Twitter or LinkedIn, which both appeal to people who actually want to take the time to read, and learn more.

Now to my second point: What can I afford. I’ve always been told and believe, “Don’t try to do everything. Instead focus on doing one thing really well.” If you have a large budget, and can afford to hire people that know these networks inside and out AND have the around the clock time to moderate and manage these accounts, then do everything… However, if you can only afford to do one really well, then do it. It just does not make sense to try doing everything, if everything does not live up to a good standard; by this I mean leaving networks silent for long periods, or creating low quality content. That “it’s about quality, not quantity” thing really does apply here.

** I will note though: If you are worried that people will take your brand name and use it their own handle (which does happen, and can be very difficult to get back), then go ahead and secure these. But if you are inactive, leave a post, tweet or status that points to your website or another network that is active.

I came across this incredibly simple yet helpful guide for which social networks your brand should be on. Check it out [here]. If I was to recommend one network right now, it would be Facebook: The highest audience, the highest time spent, an advanced ad platform (targeting), and a variety of media options (especially now since they’ve ramped up video). And yes.